CAIRO,
October 10, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – Four Ukrainian women have
reverted to Islam with the start of the holy fasting month of Ramadan
in the eastern European country.
After
much soul-searching, Mariam Kersanchik, 19, embraced the Muslim faith
at the Islamic Cultural Center in Kiev, the Federation of Social
Organizations (ARRAID), the Muslim umbrella body in the country, said
in a statement e-mailed to IslamOnline.net Monday, October 9.
Kersanchik
started her odyssey at the young age of 13, but was told then she
could not revert to any religion as she was born Christian.
Later
she discovered her Jewish origin and started reading about Judaism,
but never found her destination in that religion and detested a
rabbinical rule that she had to wait for 10 years to embrace the
Jewish faith.
Kersanchik
then was attracted to Islam and delved deep into this religion, which
came under the spotlight after the 9/11 attacks.
She
was delighted when a Muslim friend told her she can embrace Islam at
anytime with no preconditions.
Spiritual
Islam
Yula
Shablinko was completely mesmerized by the spirituality of Islam
especially during Ramadan.
She
decided to revert after a lecture on fasting at the Islamic Cultural
Center in Kiev and started observing the dawn-to-dusk fast and perform
Tarawih prayers.
As
for Natalia Altokheva, it all started with Arabic, when she enrolled
at the same center to study the language of the Noble Qur'an.
She
borrowed books about Islam translated to Russian by the ARRAID and
sought answers to many of her questions about Islam from imams at the
Islamic center.
Lisa
Yanshovskia fell in love with a Muslim colleague in her university and
decided to tie the knot. She was curious to know about her husband’s
religion.
He
brought her videos and books about the life history of Prophet
Muhammad (PBUH) and the Noble Qur'an.
Convinced
Yanshovskia embraced Islam on the first day of Ramadan, which started
in Ukraine on Wednesday, October 5.
Ukraine
is home to some two million Muslims making up 4% of the overall
48-million population.
There
are up to 200 mosques and 20 Islamic centers nationwide, which
experience no restrictions by the Ukrainian authorities.
Founded
in 1997, the ARRAID, which means "pioneer" in Arabic,
integrates public Muslim organizations from ten regional centers of
Ukraine.
